Dutch cream of asparagus soup with ham and egg is a classic recipe. It starts with cooking the asparagus tips until they're soft, but still have got some bite. Then they are delicious and full of flavor. And when it's served top the asparagus soup with ham and egg because it complements the soup so deliciously. No wonder it's one of the most famous flavor combinations with asparagus.
This asparagus soup is easy to make, creamy and velvetly soft. It feels like a luxurious and elegant soup and I like to eat this soup as a starter for a dinner in the spring. But I can't resist it when served for lunch with some bread to.
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The start of the asparagus season
The asparagus season has started and the white gold is available and fresh again. Always an announcement of spring. The veggies have a smooth, creamy and unique flavor. Practically not comparable to any other vegetable.
When buying asparagus make sure that you always keep your asparagus moist until preparation. They dry out very quickly and then they really don't taste that good anymore.
A common combination (and for good reason) is asparagus with ham and egg. And that is exactly what is used in this soup and makes it so delicious.
Classic food: Dutch cream of asparagus soup with ham and egg. It's irresistibly delicious!
A skinny soup
Even though this is a rich soup prepared with flour and cream, and topped with treats such as ham and egg, this still remains a skinny soup. With just over 250 calories, it's a lean evening meal.
But then one which is delicious filled. Great to eat with some crispy baguette for dinner or as a lunch dish. And this soup with its beautiful white color that looks elegant is also a great starter for any spring dinner.
🥘 Ingredients
A full list of ingredients can be found at the end of this blog.
- Asparagus - Asparagus can be bought in the green or white variant. In the Netherlands white is the most available one and a real delicacy. Only available fresh between the beginning of March and June 24th. After that day, the asparagus is left alone so that they can regain strength for the following year. You can also use green asparagus for this soup, but then the color will of course be very different.
- Vegetable stock and sugar - Put both in the pan and cook the asparagus tips al dente and the rest of the asparagus completely. This is the basis of your creamy asparagus soup. You add the little bit of sugar to make the taste of the asparagus even better.
- Butter and flour - This will make a roux. With that we bind the asparagus soup.
- Cream - To give this soup that velvet flavor. You can also use cooking cream for this.
- Deli ham and Egg - The topping of the soup. We cut the ham into small strips before adding it. The egg is first hard-boiled and then peeled. Then we finely grate it.
🔪Instructions
A recipe that can be printed can be found at the bottom of this blog in the recipe card.
Step 1 - Prepare the asparagus
- Place the asparagus in a container of cold water for at least one hour. That way you can peel them better. Meanwhile, cook the eggs until they are hard.
- Grab the asparagus at the top and bend the other side. This will break the asparagus just above the bottom. The part that you hold in your hand is the woody part and you cannot eat.
- Peel the asparagus with a vegetable peeler.
- Cut the top of the asparagus (about 1 inch (three cm)). Store separately. Cut the rest of the asparagus into ¾ inch (2 cm) pieces.
Step 2 - Boil the asparagus and make an asparagus stock
- Add the asparagus tips, stock, and sugar to the pan and bring to the boil.
- Simmer for ten minutes until the asparagus tips are al dente and remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon.
- Add the rest of the asparagus to the pan and simmer them in the hot stock for 20 minutes.
- Puree the asparagus stock with an immersion blender.
Step 3 - Make a roux and dilute it with asparagus stock and cream
- Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour.
- Stir fry it on low heat for two minutes. Bake the flour for at least two minutes, otherwise, you will get a soup with a floury taste. You always do this when you make a roux or add flour to a soup. Let it cool down. A cold roux mixes better with a warm liquid, therefore you won't get lumps.
- Pour in the warm asparagus stock while mixing with a whisk.
- Finally, pour the whipped cream with the asparagus stock.
Step 4 - Mix the cream into the soup. Now heat the cream of asparagus soup over low heat, but do not let it come to a boil (when you see steam appearing above the pan, the soup is warm enough).
How do you store asparagus?
Use fresh asparagus, preferably. If that's not possible, wrap them in a damp tea towel and keep them in the refrigerator for a maximum of two days.
You can also freeze asparagus. Bring a pan of water to a boil. In the meantime, you clean the asparagus. Blanch the asparagus in the boiling water for two minutes and rinse immediately with cold water. Put them in a freezer bag and keep them in the freezer for up to one month.
How do you clean asparagus?
Before you start, put the asparagus in a bowl of cold water for an hour. This way you can peel them better. Cut off about ¾ inch (two cm) at the bottom or use the break method as described above.
By breaking the woody part of the asparagus instead of cutting it, you are at exactly the right point, avoiding the fleshy part of your creamy asparagus soup and keeping most of the asparagus for your soup. Peel the outside of the asparagus with a fine peeler.
🥘 Other delicious recipes
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📖 Recipe
Asparagus soup with ham and grated egg
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Equipment
Ingredients
Garnish
- 2 eggs size m
- 3½ oz. ham deli
Asparagus soup
- 10½ oz. asparagus white
- 2 cups vegetable stock no salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- ⅓ cups cream
- 1 teaspoon salt to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Garnish
- Boil the eggs hard, peel and grate them on the sieve fine.
- Cut the ham into small strips.
Cream of Asparagus soup
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan and stir in the flour.
- Cook for two minutes over low heat until the flour is cooked.
- Allow cooling to room temperature.
- Peel the asparagus with a vegetable peeler.
- Break the woody bottom from the asparagus and get rid of it. Do this by holding the bottom of the asparagus and flex at ⅔ from the bottom.
- Cut the top off of the asparagus ( about ¾ inch (two cm0) and cut the remainder of the asparagus into small pieces.
- Add the asparagus tops along with the stock and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Cook the asparagus for about 10 minutes.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate.
- Put the rest of the asparagus in the remaining broth in the pan and cook for 20 minutes.
- Then puree the asparagus with the stock in a blender.
- Pour the asparagus broth with the cooled flour, while stirring with a whisk.
- Heat the soup for about 5 minutes and then pour in the cream.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Ladle the soup into a soup bowl and spoon 1 tablespoon asparagus tips on top.
- Garnish with strips of ham and grated egg.
Notes
2. Alternatives - Asparagus - Replace the white asparagus with green asparagus. Ham - You can also replace the ham with smoked salmon (for a luxury version). For a vegetarian soup, replace the ham with slices of mushrooms which you lightly fry in butter. Cream - You can also use cooking cream to ensure that the soup does not curdle. 3. Storage - Cool this soup quickly and then keep it covered in the refrigerator for 2 days. Heat it until it is warm, but not yet boiling. The soup can curdle because of the added cream. Do not freeze this soup. Because you have added cream, it can curdle. 4. Nutrition - With this recipe, you can fill four large soup bowls. The nutritional values are per soup bowl, including topping.
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